> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://wiki.platelunchcollective.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Social Citation

> A social citation is a mention of a brand on a social or community platform that a retrieval system can find and draw on when it assembles an answer.

*Core concept* · *Social Search*

## Definition

A social citation is a mention of a brand, product, or person on a social or community platform, a post, a comment, a thread, that a retrieval system can find and draw on when it builds an answer. It is a reference that lives outside the brand's own site, in the places where people talk to each other rather than where the brand talks to them.

## Why It Matters for AI Search

Answer engines increasingly pull from forums, discussion sites, and social platforms because that is where candid, current opinion collects. A social citation puts a brand into that material, and when a model reaches for community consensus on a question, mentions of that kind are part of what it reads. They function as social proof a system can cite, corroboration from unaffiliated voices rather than from the brand itself. Being present and well regarded in those conversations is how a brand shows up in the answers built from them.

## Related Terms

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Social proof" href="/ai-search-glossary/social-proof">See also</Card>
  <Card title="Social search" href="/ai-search-glossary/social-search">See also</Card>
  <Card title="Brand mention" href="/ai-search-glossary/brand-mention">See also</Card>
  <Card title="User-generated content" href="/ai-search-glossary/ugc">See also</Card>
  <Card title="Backlink" href="/ai-search-glossary/backlink">See also</Card>
</CardGroup>

## Relevant Plate Lunch Collective Services

[Social Search Optimization](https://www.platelunchcollective.com/services/social-search-optimization)  [Entity SEO](https://www.platelunchcollective.com/services/entity-seo)